Punjab tribunals issue resolved, SC informed

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its ruling on an appeal of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against a decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) regarding the establishment of eight election tribunals in Punjab, after it was informed that the matter had been resolved.

The court rejected objections on the bench, and expressed the hope that the process of establishing election tribunals would start soon. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa said that decisions on the election disputes should be made promptly.

A five-member larger bench, led by Chief Justice Isa heard the case. The lawyer for the ECP submitted a report, and informed the court that the issue of establishing the election tribunal in Punjab had been resolved after consultation between the LHC chief justice and the chief election commissioner (CEC).

He said that the names of the four judges were agreed upon. During the consultation, the lawyer added, the chief justice opined that the formation of the election tribunals, consisting of retired judges, was the authority of the ECP; therefore, there was no need for consultation on it.

The chief justice remarked that since the matter had been resolved after consultation, what remained for the court to do. Now, he expressed the hope, decisions on election disputes should come. "If the consultation is done earlier, the matter would not have come here," he remarked.

The chief justice observed that the country needed stability. "We are not the enemies but the citizens of the one same country. The Election Commission is a constitutional body, we should respect the institutions. These should be allowed to work," he added.

The chief justice objected to the use of the medium of correspondence for consultation. He said that disputes existed but the language used in the correspondence did not help in the matter. This was not the way to run a country.

Sitting on the bench, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel remarked that the ECP could neither ask the LHC chief justice for a judge, nor a panel of judges for the election tribunal. He also said that neither the ECP nor the high court could arbitrarily issue notification for the establishment of a tribunal.

Since the matter between the two institutions concerned had been resolved, the chief justice said, what was left for the court to do. On that Advocate Salman Akram Raja said that the LHC decision should be annulled to the extent of the notification of setting up the election tribunal.

But, he added, the appeal should be disposed of without interfering with the rest of the judgment. He argued that amendments to the Election Act had been challenged, so the matter of setting up an election tribunal, consisting of retired judges, should be left to the high court.

Raja said that "pick and choose" among the high court judges for the election tribunal was against the dignity of the court. Justice Mandokhel said that the court had restored the dignity of the high court by ordering the ECP to consult it on the matter.

Sitting on the bench, Justice Aqeel Abbasi said that in the report of the LHC registrar, it was not mentioned in the minutes of the meeting between the LHC chief justice and the CEC that tribunal of retired judges was the ECP's mandate and there was no need for consulting the chief justice on it.

The chief justice remarked this sentence should be deleted. Justice Abbasi stressed the need for looking into the scheme of the Constitution on electoral matters. He said that establishment of the election tribunal was the authority of the ECP.

He added that there was nothing written in the law that the chief justice would nominate a specific name for the election tribunal. Justice Mandokhel said that controversy over the appointment of judges to the tribunals should end now.

Chief Justice Isa said that the term of parliament could not be extended even by a single day but the court had the cases that dragged on stay order. He pointed out that a former deputy speaker of the National Assembly obtained an injunction, which a judge had described as high treason.

The chief justice exhorted that there would be conflicts but the institutions must not be attacked. He said that no one cared to read the Constitution, which he added, clearly stated that forming a tribunal was the power of the ECP.

Justice Mandokhel said that the ECP's authority was subjected to consultation with the chief justice concerned and the ECP did not have the authority to reject the names sent by the chief justice. The ECP even could not ask the chief justice for a panel of judges.

During the hearing, Justice Mandokhel said that an impression was given that the case was delayed because of him. He added that the case was delayed because there was a request from lawyer Hamid Khan that he was going abroad.

On that the chief justice asked Salman Akram Raja that why he did not clear the wrong news? Raja replied that he also was not in the country and did not know about any such news. The chief justice remarked that earlier court reporting was done on facts, now it was done for dollars.

Addressing Raja, the chief justice also asked whether he wanted decisions made by the judges of his choice. The chief justice observed further that if a petitioner demanded a judge of his own choice, then the justice system was over.

Raja replied that he never asked for the judge of his choice for a decision. The chief justice then asked whether he wanted a clash among the institutions. On that Raja said that there was already a conflict among the institutions. Chief justice Isa said that conflict occurred because of transgression of authority.

The chief justice told Raja that if there was a judge whose close relative was a politician, should he be appointed as the judges for the tribunals. Justice Mandokhel said that the tribunal decisions had started in Balochistan and advised that judges should be trusted, without any doubt about their intentions.

The chief justice, while talking to Raja, said the matter should be resolved according to the scheme of the Constitution. Justice Mandokhel asked the ECP lawyer to start the work on the process of election tribunals and complete it soon.

After a long hearing, the judges on the bench consulted among themselves. Reserving the decision after the consultation, the chief justice said that he would write down the verdict and issue it on some other day instead of Tuesday.